


Depravity (on hiatus)

by OfVirtueMoir



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Ice Dancing - Fandom, Scott Moir - Fandom, Tessa Virtue - Fandom
Genre: 2018 Winter Olympics, F/M, Olympics, PyeongChang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-03-27 04:16:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13872927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfVirtueMoir/pseuds/OfVirtueMoir
Summary: Virtue/Moir...but not necessarily in the way you expect it at first.Takes place after Pyeongchang 2018.ON HIATUS: My heart just wasn’t in this anymore, and you can definitely tell that it all goes downhill after the first two chapters or so, maybe even after the very first chapter. Don’t worry, because I definitely will be back to edit/finish this, but it’s just taking a backseat for now. I promise I’m not abandoning this!





	1. Prologue: The beginning...of the End

“I will love you, until my dying day.” 

The climactic final lyrics of “Come what May” echoed through the arena as Tessa spun in mid-air. Usually, spins made her out of breath; the rotations were incredibly fast, and trying to breathe while spinning felt like trying to breathe on Mount Everest. But in this moment, she couldn’t breathe for a different reason. For maybe the first time in her life, she was in awe. 

The scream of the crowd was crescendoing, and she could practically taste the gold medal in her mouth. As her partner let her down to the ground, they mechanically struck their ending pose and anticipated the applause. The crowd erupted, and after a moment he pulled her in for a hug, clutching onto her for dear life. They had just performed the best skate of their damn lives.

Tessa took a brief moment to collect herself, and then took several bows. She held his hand tightly as they skated off of the ice. After a dramatic exit from the ice, courtesy of her partner, they got into a bear hug with Marie-France and Patch. They all waddled over to the Kiss and Cry, refusing to let go of each other for fear that letting go would jinx the scores. When she sat down, Tessa tried to catch her breath, but it seemed like the slower her breathing got, the faster her heart would beat. 

Finally, the fated voice came on in the stadium and announced the score. 122.40. Tessa wondered if it was enough. She had made it a point to not listen to Gabriella and Guillame’s scores before they went on, but she was sure they had to have put up a tremendous showing. 

When the leaderboard flashed an update and she saw their names next to the number 1, Tessa let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. ‘1. Virtue/Moir,’ the screen read. She had been waiting to see that for 8 years. She was still largely in disbelief. They had actually done it. After 20 years of partnership, 3 Olympic Games, and 1 too many heartbreaks in Sochi, they were the best in the world. Again.

Her partner lifted her up without hesitation to celebrate. He patted her back and hugged her tighter than he ever had before. He leaned back, and they gazed into each other’s eyes, taking in the surreal. Tessa was the first to speak.

“We did it, Danny.”


	2. Chapter 1

The days following the win were a whirlwind of simultaneous celebration and exhaustion. The feeling of the gold medal weighing down their necks ever so slightly had inevitably created a high. However, Tessa and Danny had been dragged to the media circus almost immediately following the medal ceremony. Everyone wanted to know about Canada’s golden pair and their journey from heartbreak to success. Danny was 37. Were they going to retire? Was _he_ going to retire? How would Tessa feel if he were? Would she be interested in another partner? How did Danny’s wife feel about their partnership? Did they feel that they deserved gold over the French? Tessa knew that the litany of invasive questions were part of her job and came with the gold medal. However, that didn’t stop her from occasionally wishing she could be left alone, dreaming and reflecting in a quiet room.

The media was even harder to manage for Danny than for Tessa, if that was imaginable. In addition to being the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history with Tessa, he also comprised one half of the Moir Brothers, Canada’s double-gold medal winning figure skating and hockey playing brothers in 2010. At the free skate, the media had gotten footage of Danny jumping up into the stands and into Scott and Charlie’s arms. That had seemed to be all anybody would talk about on social media. During interviews, reporters repeatedly asked Danny if he thought a so-called “hat trick” would be possible with the addition of Scott’s gold in hockey. Not wanting to create pressure for his younger brother, Danny would always wish the Canadian men’s hockey team luck and then divert the attention to his own gold medals.

The night after the free skate, when the media obligations had dwindled, the Virtue and Moir families gathered at a restaurant just outside of the village to celebrate. The dinner also served as a good-luck gathering for Scott, who was facing Germany in the semifinals the next day. Tessa hadn’t seen Scott in about a year. Between her training and studying and his hockey career, they had never been able to find the time to grab coffee, or lunch, like they perpetually planned. Ironically, it was during the Olympic Games, the busiest times of their lives, that they were able to find the means to meet up.

In the year that had passed, Scott had gotten his long hair trimmed. The haircut framed his face and jawline nicely. She could appreciate it.

“Love the hair,” she said, going in for a hug.

“Love the gold medal,” Scott replied and kissed her on the cheek. “Congrats.”

Tessa smiled, and then sat down at the table. “How have you been?”

“I’m hanging in there. I love being here, but it’s been hard with everything I’ve had to do to be here, you know? I wish it had gone differently.”

Tessa smiled encouragingly. Danny had told her about what had happened, and she had watched some interviews here and there. As much as she wanted to ask about it, she thought that Scott had rehashed it enough with the media to last a lifetime. And he had.

Earlier in the year, the NHL had announced that its players would not be eligible for the 2018 Olympics. Due to the risk of injury and more importantly, the potential loss of revenue, the organization had deemed that the regular NHL season would proceed as planned. Scott, who had represented Canada in the past 2 Olympic Games, had been devastated. He loved hockey, he loved playing hockey, and he loved playing hockey for his country. After months of agonizing deliberation, he had made the choice to terminate his contract with the Maple Leafs (which became an entire legal issue of its own) and pursue his Olympic career. The media had highly criticized him for it, and Tessa could only imagine the stress he was under. He had decided to forfeit his personal career for the chance to earn Canada a gold medal at the _Olympics_...and yet some Canadian fans still hated him.

“Well, I think what you did was admirable. You did what you thought was the best thing to do in the situation you were in,” Tessa said.

“Thanks,” replied Scott with the smallest smile. “So what are you guys gonna do now, Miss Most-Decorated-Figure-Skater-In-Olympic-History?”

“You’ve been paying attention,” she laughed.

“Oh, always,” he mused.

“We have Stars on Ice coming up. But after that? Probably a _long_ break.”

Scott nodded along. “Maybe we’ll finally get that coffee?”

“Maybe,” she said, emphasizing the last syllable. Before she could say anything more, the clink of a champagne glass echoed throughout the room. Her mother made a lovely toast to her and Danny, Alma to Scott, and the two families joined together in celebration long into the night.

Well, except for Scott. Being a responsible teammate, he headed off to his suite around midnight to prepare for the big game the next day.

//

They say that life is a cycle of highs and lows, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise when a devastating thunderstorm crumbles the ground beneath a rainbow. However, the thunderstorm catches us off guard every time and traps us in the flood it creates. On one cursed Friday night, Canadians everywhere screamed at their television using words their grandmothers would disapprove of. Others screamed those same words in an ice arena in South Korea.

Scott saw the puck go into the net. It didn’t happen in slow motion, like the movies made it seem. It bounced off of the German player’s stick and launched into the net without hesitation, almost as if to say “hurray!” At first, the full weight of the loss didn’t hit him. He had lost one goal. One point. What could be the harm? He repeated the words over and over again in his head until he had convinced himself that they were true.

It wasn’t until he was outside of the locker rooms and surrounded by his family that Scott allowed himself to spiral. In one single millisecond, the puck had slipped out of his teammate’s hands. In one smooth motion, it had slid into the goal. In one point, it had lost the game. In one loss, they had disappointed the entire nation. Scott had been thrown in, shackles tied to his feet, into the flood.

Scott needed to sit down. Tessa, being the observant person that she was, joined him at his side to give him what little comfort she could provide. She knew that he must be questioning every single thing in this moment.

“Hey, do you remember when I was 9, I turned down the National Ballet for you?” she asked delicately.

He looked up.

“I don’t know if you remember, but you left me a year later to go play hockey for the junior...some mediocre junior league.”

He scoffed.

“Well, look at me now,” she said. “Scott, look at me.”  
“I’m the most decorated figure skater in Olympic history.”

Scott forced a smile but was fighting to keep his tears at bay. Maybe that hadn’t been the right thing to say. Had that just been salt in the wound?

“Just know that you have us,” Tessa assured him, gently rubbing his back. “You have me.”

He placed his hand on her knee as a sign of gratitude. She stayed by his side for as long as he needed her and pretended not to see the tears falling on to the tile floor.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a filler chapter than anything...I promise that the fluffy stuff is coming soon!! Also this was pretty rushed and definitely not my best work...but an update is better than no update, right?

Scott was glad to be back on Canadian soil. He felt like he could finally breathe after what had been a rollercoaster ride. The fact that he was back home didn’t mean there were any less interviews or prodding journalists, but he felt an air of support behind his back.

Truth be told, he was terrified of returning to his home country bearing nothing but failure. A failure, that’s what he was. He had ended the Canadian winning streak, and he had ruined the brand of the Golden Moir Brothers. Had Danny felt this way four years ago? He didn’t know, but he knew that nothing could compare with the heaviness of the lead hanging around his neck. Regretfully, Scott had jealously watched Danny and Tessa as they had given their Air Canada-sponsored interviews to the adoring airport public. He had also declined any interviews, both with and without Danny and Tessa, even though he had known his PR team would pester him for days for doing so. He was angry with himself for being envious of their success. How could he possibly complain when Danny and Tessa had been so supportive in Sochi?

The week long break they all took after arriving home served as a great mental break for Tessa and a chance for Danny to spend time with his children, but to Scott, it became an opportunity to take pity on himself. It had been so long since he had experienced failure that he had forgotten how dark it was. Five months ago, Scott had been at the absolute height of his career. He had won three consecutive Stanley Cup Championships with the Leafs and had been consistently ranked as the No. 1 player in the league. He was recognized everywhere. At the diner, the bar, and even on the streets. He was always accompanied by his beautiful girlfriend Lara, and together they turned heads every which way.

When Scott had decided to pursue the Olympics, he had hoped that his teammates and friends would join him. He had dreamed of standing on the podium with the Canadian flag over his head and his friends’ smiles lighting up the arena. But instead of joining him, his friends had criticized him. Vitriolic comments surfaced on the internet, and soon Scott had no more texts from his friends to ask him about going out on Saturday nights.

So he had lost his friends while partaking in something he believed him. Scott could deal with that. They had never been his true buddies, anyway. But the loss that shattered Scott into seemingly irreparable pieces was Lara. Less than a month after his announcement, she had left in the middle of the night with no note and no way to contact her. It had been straight out of a goddamn movie. He didn’t understand why she left. He had loved her with everything he had, and he had all but given her a ring. He refused to believe that he had misjudged her character so severely, because Lara had been perfect. She was supposed to be his partner in crime, for life. So he tried to forget about her and threw himself into his training.

Now, Scott sat on his parents’ couch for more than eight hours a day watching Netflix. He didn’t have the courage to face his neighbors back in Toronto, so he had decided to stay in his hometown and lay low for the next little while. Life wasn’t great, but it was as good as it could be considering the circumstances. He had unlimited amounts of pizza at his disposal and easy access to beer whenever he wanted it. He was halfway through the season finale of Friends when his phone buzzed next to him. _Tessa Virtue_. That was a little strange.

“Hello?”

“Hey Scott, it’s Tessa. I know you’re at home right now, but I need you to get down to Montreal. Danny’s hurt, and he’s going to the hospital right now,”

“Oh, my god. What happened? I’ll be on the next flight out,” he said, already scrambling up the stairs for his suitcase.

“I don’t really know. We were-we we’re doing a lift and I guess he tripped, and we just landed really badly. Just get here as soon as you can, please. It’s the McGill University Centre.”

“I’ll be there, T. Does my mom know? She’s at work.”

“Danny called her,” she said in a quivering voice.

“Breathe. Just hang tight, okay? I’ll be there.”

Scott heard a deep breath and an ‘okay’ before the line disconnected.

//

“Tessa!” Scott called out. She saw him and instantly breathed a sigh of relief. She embraced him tightly and held on until he let go.

“Thank god you’re here,” she said. “Patch—Patrice, our coach, is here too.” She gestured toward the man sitting next to her.

“Thanks for staying,” Scott said shaking his hand. “Can I go see him?”

“I think he’s talking with the doctor right now, but you can go check.”

Scott nodded and gave both of Tessa’s hand a squeeze before he left to go ask the front desk of Danny’s whereabouts. When he got to Danny’s room, no one seemed to be inside, so he knocked and then quietly opened the door. Danny stirred, and then woke up.

“Hey, man. You doing okay?”

Danny chuckled. “If you call this okay,” he said in a hoarse voice.

“What’d the doctor say?”

“A few cracked ribs and an ankle tear. I’m gonna be out for a while.”

Scott sighed. “How’d this even happen?”

“Bad ice, or sucky skating skills. Or both.”

“You almost gave mom a heart attack.”

“I know. She didn’t come out here, did she?”

“You know mom. She’s always there for her babies. She’s coming in a little later, but she’s on the way, yeah.”

Danny wheezed painfully. “Can you do something for me?”

“Yeah, whatever you need.”

“Keep Tessa company. Please.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“She’s gonna need a friend.”

“I’ll be there, don’t worry.” Scott said. “You get some rest.” He gently put his hand on Danny’s shoulder and walked out.

Tessa stood up when she saw Scott approaching her in the main lobby. “What’d he say?” she asked with wide eyes.

“He said he had some cracked ribs and an ankle tear. He’s gonna have to rest for a while.”

Tessa’s face fell. She felt awful. As skating partners, the one person Danny trusted the most was Tessa. She felt like she had let him down and caused him so much pain, and right after they had worked for 20 years to achieve their goal. She couldn’t help but feel like this was her fault.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Scott said. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for this.”

“I’m not,” she lied.

“It was a freak accident. It was no one’s fault.”

Tessa looked at the ground, clearly uncomfortable. “Why don’t we get you home? Tessa’s gonna be back in a little bit. She had to leave to go pick up the kids.”

“I can stay at a hotel. I don’t want to add more stress on Tessa, or you.”

“No, you can stay at my place. I have a guest bedroom that I’m not using. It’s the least I can do.”

“Tess, I’m fine staying at a hotel.”

“Yeah? Who’s gonna drive you to a hotel?”

//

Scott reluctantly agreed to lodge at Tessa’s house after half an hour of insisting that he check in at a hotel. Whenever Tessa wanted something badly enough, she got it.

She showed him to the guest bedroom, complete with blue pillows on the bed and antique art decor on the wall. “The guest bathroom’s to the left, and I’m right next door if you need anything,” she said.

“Thanks again, T.”

“Stop. You can thank me by getting a good night’s rest.”

“Okay,” he smiled. She had the purest heart in the world. “Good night, Tess.”

“Good night.”


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might be going on hiatus with this fic soon because I thought of a new fic idea...thoughts??

The next morning, Scott was up with the sun. The house was quiet except for the occasional twittering bird outside the window. With Tessa’s door still peacefully closed, he made his way to the kitchen. After digging around in some cabinets, he found a frying pan. It was nice, and he could appreciate the quality of the frying surface. He set the pan gently on the electric stove as to not make a lot of noise and walked over to the fridge for eggs and bread. _Hope she likes toast and scrambled eggs._ He patiently stood in front of the oven and waited for eggs to, well, scramble. He was so engrossed in watching the oil fizzle on the pan that he jumped when the toaster dinged. Only his second reaction was to worry about whether or not it had woken Tessa. He figured it probably had, and decided to take breakfast to her as a peace offering.

He knocked twice, and then gently turned the doorknob when there wasn’t a response. “Hey, T. Rise and shine.”

She groaned and turned away from the door.

“Practice at 9, right? I made breakfast.”

She turned to face him rather quickly. “How do you know that? And you made me breakfast?”

“Danny. And it was the least I could do for crashing here.”

Tessa sat up in her bed and extended her hand. “Thanks.”

“Yeah. There’s more if you’re hungry.”

“Okay.”

Leaving Tessa to eat, Scott gently closed the door behind him.

Half an hour later, Tessa emerged from her bedroom in something other than her pajamas. She looked comfortable in a pair of leggings and a light sweater. Her jacket was draped around her arm, and her keys were in her right hand.

“So where are going today?” Scott asked.

“I’m doing some Stars on Ice stuff downtown. You’re welcome to stay and help yourself to whatever I have,” she said.

“Oh, nice. I’ve never explored downtown Montreal.”

“Yeah, it’s a really nice city. Um, I’m gonna get going, because I’m gonna be late. Like I said, your welcome to anything I have,” she said, walking to the door. Scott grabbed his own jacket from the coat rack and followed suit.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to dance practice.”

“Scott, you don’t have to come with me.”

“I asked what we were doing today, didn’t I?”

“But-“

“I’ll drive,” Scott said, and grabbed the keys from Tessa’s hand. Stunned, she followed him to her car and stepped in to the passenger seat of her own car when he opened the door for her. She didn’t know why she was okay with him driving her car, but a voice inside her head told her to not question it. She looked on as Scott changed the radio channel in, once again, her own car. That day she learned that the boy could sing when he wanted to. And his favorite song? Gangster’s Paradise.

***

When they got the dance studio, Tessa politely introduced Scott to Sam, Tessa and Danny’s longtime choreographer. He was very confused to see the younger Moir and not the 37-year old gold medalist. Sam gave Tessa a sympathetic look when she explained the situation and gave her a hug. Perhaps he too could feel the guilt that she felt. 

Scott will admit that at first he paid little attention to Tessa. She was his friend, and he was doing Danny a favor by looking out for her. He was happy to be there, but he had little interest in dance. Plus, his mind was still lingering on his bronze-medal finish in Korea. However as the hours wore on and Scott became bored of the singular app he had on his phone, Scott found himself looking at Tessa more and more. Scott had never had the luxury of observing her in her natural state. As he tracked her every move, he couldn’t help but notice the fire in her steps. She paid an immense amount of attention to every nuance in her steps, from her hips down to her fingertips. She was born to be a performer. Scott had always known that Tessa was attractive, but seeing her dance...it was mesmerizing to say the least. And her eyes. Those gorgeous emerald green eyes. Every time they connected with Scott’s, they seemed to remind him of the beautiful partnership he threw away when he was 11. By the end of the eight hour practice, Scott found himself strangely wanting to dance with Tessa. He didn’t know where this feeling had suddenly come from.

“You’re amazing at this,” he said, handing Tessa her bag. She slung it over her shoulder.

“Oh, thanks. I’ve been working at it for a little while now.”

“You have 5 Olympic medals.”

“Like I said, a little while.”

Scott laughed. On the ride home, he replayed the rehearsal over and over again in his head. And when Tessa asked him what he had been thinking when he almost ran over a college kid, Scott had no answer.

***

The next two days were more of the same. In the very short time the had spent together, they had fallen into a routine, and Scott found himself being drawn to her more and more each day. He and Tessa made eye contact more often, and once in a while she would throw him a bone and wink at him. They both realized that there was something extremely strange about their newfound dynamic. Something that felt wrong, but it also felt like it had been this way their whole lives. It was different, but there was an element of comfort.

After the third day of going to rehearsal together, Tessa attempted to regain some sense of normalcy in life. Before unlocking the front door, she decided to talk to Scott.

“Scott, you don’t have to keep doing this. I’m fine on my own,” she said.

“I don’t mind it, really,” he said earnestly.

“I know Danny asked you to, but you don’t need to keep tabs on me all the time. I’ll be okay.”

He swallowed. He looked down at his sneakers for a while, looking for the right words, or maybe the courage to say the words he wanted to say.

“These last few days...I’ve had more sense of direction than I’ve had in the last few months. I have a purpose here, with you. So please,” he grabbed her hand and stroked it, “Let me stay. It’s as much for me as it is for you.” Looking at Tessa, Scott knew that saying all of this to her was strange. He had been here for all of three days, and he was asking her to let him in as a part of her life.

Tessa took it surprisingly well. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. “Yeah, of course,” she said breathlessly.

“Thank you,” he said, pulling her into a hug by the hand he had been holding. “It means a lot.”

Tessa’s heart was racing at a thousand miles per hour. She didn’t know why such a simple action made her so nervous, but she wondered if Scott could feel her pulse accelerating. If she would have stopped listening to her own heartbeat for a moment to listen to Scott’s, she would have noticed that it was racing too. A million times faster.


End file.
